[:0] Forum been a little stiff lately w/o our friend from whatever that state was.
So I will regale you with a story. I was in a meeting this morning, looking through a nice Southern Pacific calendar someone gave me. We use this calendar to mark the vacation time off for the department people.
Found the beautiful model for July is an AC9 #3804 - a 2-8-8-4 articulated oil burner in 1955.
Reminded me of the Big Boys and my heart went pitter-titter…
End of story.
But! Curious as usual - why did those Big Guys have such a big front porch? The number and sometimes the headlight went way down the rail before the engine! From the looks of this one, they could have had lawn chairs out there for the ride!
I know you will give me your gems of wisdom and tell me just what I want to know. [8)]
Questions! Questions! That big front porch on the leading ends of the long mallets was for relayers. The boiler was so long, the engineer or fireman couldn’t see around the front to see signals or the road ahead. Relayers would camp out front and relay signals back to the cab as to conditions ahead. At night, they used lanterns. In foul weather, fussees were not unknown. Anything else I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask. :ol :o) 8o0
OK, Mookie’s the cat. Good thing, because I’d hate to think of my kid sister as being a “loose” woman!
(You sure make it easy to liven up a “stiff” forum, Kiddo!)
I’m not as familiar with the workings of (and working with) the large steam locomotives as others may be, but it might be instructive to note that as long as those platforms are, they still have wheels underneath them. That would suggest that the length was needed to provide room for all of the wheels needed to support the beast’s weight.
Carl
P.S. I’m not buying that other story without corroboration.
[:I] Oh Skeets, I am so glad you aren’t still upset with me! [:X]
That is a very good reason to have those front porches! I had never heard that! Never even gave it a 2nd thought until I was studying the pictures in the calendar instead of listening to the dull as oatmeal meeting!
I would have to agree with carl.Those front trucks were used to guide the beasts around curves. Alot of running gear under there.And the last time I knew girls were made of sugar and spice(and everything nice). You can use that in your oatmeal like you do here.
thanks jen
stay safe
joe
The cab forward developed by SP was an attempt to do away with the relayers. The engine crew was moved closer to the “action”, but then they couldn’t see well down the long boiler to the rear. If you look at a cabforward, they still had the now-rear porch for the relayers to watch to the rear. Since there was less to do in that position, SP promptly eliminated one relayer on most runs. There had been two before. Honest.
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[:I] Oh Skeets, I am so glad you aren’t still upset with me! [:X]
I wasn’t upset with you; I only wanted to point out that you can be very snoopy. By the way, I notice in several posts that you refer to your driver. A DRIVER? Are you the head honcho at Nebraska, or something?
Actually the main reason for the cab forward design was to prevent the engine crews from being asphyxiated in the snow sheds and tunnels on Donner Pass.
…I’ll not touch the relayers. The Big Boy’s were made up of, I believe you call them…engines…In fact 2 of them. The front frame loaded with steam boxes, valves and mechanical connections to all driving wheels on that frame and then the same arrangement on the back set, doing the same thing…and then of course the necessary boiler and all of it’s parts along with the firebox and all the controls for the engine crew…and all that needed to be long enough to get plenty and adequate area to make enough steam to supply the “2 engines” putting the power to the rail…I suppose the boiler simply didn’t have to be long enough to cover the “front engine” totally and it didn’t.
[:I] Oh Skeets, I am so glad you aren’t still upset with me! [:X]
I wasn’t upset with you; I only wanted to point out that you can be very snoopy. By the way, I notice in several posts that you refer to your driver. A DRIVER? Are you the head honcho at Nebraska, or something?
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Skeets - I am female, ergo I am nosy! That won’t change. What - the rest of you don’t have a “driver”? A woman can’t be expected, in this day and age, to drive that covered wagon by herself! Not across the prairies of Lincoln!
Yep - he sits there and reads hot rods unlimited or whatever, takes pictures when I nudge him and in general just tells me that if I am going to drive, he won’t be riding!
But he is quiet, dependable and parks better than I do!
[}:)]
Thank you, Modelcar…You put it into words better than I could!
Jen, I think you’ll find that anything with an x-8-8-x wheel arrangement has “too much wheelbase” for the length of the boiler, hence has that “front porch”…or rear porch, in the case of the SP Cab-Forwards (by the way, you should know that the AC-9 you so admire is really the same locomotive as a Cab-Forward, but has the locomotive turned the right way…Cab-Forwards had AC classifications both above and below AC-9, as high as AC-12).
A C&O H-8 2-6-6-6 still has the separate, articulated front engine that noses into the curves, but it doesn’t need the “porch”.
You’ll find that the headlight was always (as sure as I say that, someone will come up with an exception) on the “porch”. If it were on the end of the smokebox, it’d be shining off in the weeds somewhere as the locomotive went around a curve.
Mook-
When you asked about the “Big guys with the big front porch”, I thought you were refering to something else entirely. I wasn’t sure how to respond…
…Yes, mentioning the position of headlights on locomotives makes me think about the realitively new ditch lights…I would imagine they improve the lighting around sharper radius curves than the 2 sealed beams shining far down the track…or on a sharp curve, somewhat over to the side.
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Skeets - I am female, ergo I am nosy! That won’t change. What - the rest of you don’t have a “driver”? A woman can’t be expected, in this day and age, to drive that covered wagon by herself! Not across the prairies of Lincoln!
Yep - he sits there and reads hot rods unlimited or whatever, takes pictures when I nudge him and in general just tells me that if I am going to drive, he won’t be riding!
But he is quiet, dependable and parks better than I do!
[}:)]
Mook, you never did answer my other question. You tell us you’re working up the vacation schedule for the departments; you have a driver, and finally, you are daydreaming during a meeting, which indicates that people are talking to you. With the other items listed, I’d say you’re some big muckety-muck at N. [Not to worry, babe, it’s just between you and me. Honest.]
Skeets - if you really want to know - you will have to e-mail me. But in the event you don’t - I was offered the position of chancellor, but I don’t look good in square hats - actually, I don’t look good in hats. And since I would have to preside over graduations and wear a hat, they didn’t want to cause injury as people fell down on the floor laughing. Now, if you will tell me about Skeets on the forum, I will tell you about my job on the forum. Otherwise, you have to write to me!
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Skeets - if you really want to know - you will have to e-mail me. But in the event you don’t - I was offered the position of chancellor, but I don’t look good in square hats - actually, I don’t look good in hats. And since I would have to preside over graduations and wear a hat, they didn’t want to cause injury as people fell down on the floor laughing. Now, if you will tell me about Skeets on the forum, I will tell you about my job on the forum. Otherwise, you have to write to me!
Mook
I don’t need to know all about your work. I’m just pulling your sweet little chain! I don’t really want to know all about your work. It would look all funny if I had to start calling you “Ma’am.” [you’re supposed to be laughing uncontrollably here] Regards…
Oh Skeets, I am so glad to hear that my chain is in good hands! Now I have more time to worry about who is pulling my leg!
I will tell you that I am strictly small potatoes. But my job is very interesting! I get to handle some $ every day and when people wander off and get lost, I get to go hunt them down. I help keep a database of about 250,000 names in 98% pristeen condition. (mailable addresses) We have a department of 1 supervisor (new) and 2 of us. We used to be 5, but the powers that be lost their minds and now we are 2. Believe me, it is a solid 8 hours work! But I like it very much and I even get to read the trains calendars in our meetings! I’ve been here the longest in our department, so who is going to argue with “Da Mook!”
